Costa Mesa City Hall is depicted as a source of easy money in this photo illustration by Mark Martinez. MARK MARTINEZ, THE REGISTER

COSTA MESA – - The City Council has called a special meeting Tuesday night – a week before elections – to vote on three- and four-year contract extensions with police and city employee unions.

The agreement follows a campaign season dominated by arguments between the police union and council candidate Jim Righeimer over the salaries and benefits city employees receive.

The city is facing a $9.5 million deficit even after it eliminated 113 positions over the last year. According to the city's analysis, the union concessions would save the city $3.6 million per year.

If the City Council approves the deal, the Costa Mesa Police Association and the Costa Mesa Police Management Association would have their contracts extended until June 30, 2014, and the city employees' association would get a contract extension until 2013.

The groups offered some concessions: the police would begin paying 5 percent of their salary toward the state pension program, and the city employees would pay 4 percent.

The firefighters recently received a one-year extension of their contract for a similar concession.

All groups would also lose a 1 percent matching contribution to a retirement health care savings plan.

The police unions would be eligible for cost-of-living raises in the third and fourth years of the contract. The police employees would have to wait two years before cashing out their vacation, holiday, and comp time.

The city employees' association agreed to a less generous pension plan for new hires, who will be eligible for retirement at age 60 with 2 percent of pay for each year of service. They will contribute 7 percent of their pay to the program.

In return for the concessions, the unions get a four-year extension at a time when public sector pensions and salaries have become a political issue across the state.

If an anti-union council majority is seated after the elections, they wouldn't be able to renegotiate the contracts until they expire.

In a recent opinion piece in the Daily Pilot, Councilman Eric Bever and county supervisor John Moorlach wrote, "In fiscal 2007-08, the city, experiencing its highest revenue to date of $103 million, spent $82.7 million to compensate 611 staff members. Staffing consumed 80% of the operating budget and translated into an average cost of $135,352 per employee."

Among Orange County cities that year, Costa Mesa spent by far the highest percentage of its budget on salaries and benefits.

Newport Beach was in second place, with 71 percent of the operating budget going to salaries, according to figures from the California Local Government Finance Almanac.

Other figures from the almanac depict a city that spends much more on salaries and benefits than the average city.

In 2007-08, the statewide average for cities was 47 percent of the operating budget spent on salaries and benefits; the median figure was 49 percent. Costa Mesa's figure was 80 percent that year, and 78 percent for the fiscal year just ended.

Over the last 17 years for which data was available, Costa Mesa spent between 61 percent and 93 percent of its operating budget on salaries. Most years, the number was in the high 60s or low 70s.

In recent years among Orange County cities, only Newport Beach and Brea have spent a comparable percentage on salaries. Other full-service Orange County cities spend percentages in the 50s and low 60s on salaries and benefits.

Costa Mesa spends around 56 percent of its budget on the police and fire departments.

In 2008, the highest paid city employee was Police Chief Christopher Shawkey, who earned $298,970 in total compensation. Fire Chief Michael F. Morgan made $290,939, and City Manager Allan Roeder made $285,227.

The lowest paid full-time city employee, aside from council members, was a recreation specialist who made $49,900, followed by five maintenance workers and a messenger, who made between $56,989 and $60,960.

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